There are many castles on the territory of Belarus that used to belong to very noble families. And almost every one of them is associated with ghost legends, which, of course, attracts tourists there.
Nesvizh Castle
Among Belarusian castles with ghosts, Nesvizh Castle ranks first. Black Panna supposedly lives there. This is the young wife of King Sigismund II Augustus Barbara Radziwill, who, according to one version, was poisoned by her insidious mother-in-law Bona Sforza. However, according to another version, she died a natural death from cancer.
During the occupation, a German garrison was located in the castle, and soldiers and officers have seen the Black Panna more than once. The last time she appeared to people was shortly before the fire that happened in 2002.
Smolyan Castle
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The alleged killer of Barbara Radziwill Bona Sforza, according to legend, herself turned into a ghost. In 1539, the queen became the owner of the town of Smolyany, which four years later passed to the wealthy Sangushek family, who built a castle here, which later became known as White Kovel.
Alex Zelenko, Wikimedia Commons
Although Bona Sforza died not at all in Smolyany, but in her homeland in Italy, the locals believe that her phantom lives in the vicinity of the castle. They usually see him in the fall, when a thick fog spreads over the nearby river Dernovka. Then the only surviving castle tower is suddenly illuminated with soft light, music starts playing from somewhere under the ground, and a white silhouette begins to flicker in the empty window openings …
Mir Castle
In 1926, during reconstruction, two skeletons in medieval armor were found in the basement of the castle. Although the remains of the soldiers were buried as expected, since then ghosts have started up in the castle: sometimes knightly armor and swords can be heard within its walls … But the main local ghost is considered the phantom of Sophia, the daughter of Prince Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky, who once owned the castle. At the age of 12, the princess drowned in a pond on the territory of her father's estate. Very little time passed, and the prince himself died in exactly the same way.
Vadzim Novikau, Wikimedia Commons
They say that a pond was dug on the site of an apple orchard. At the same time, by order of the prince, all the trees were cut down. In the process of work, there was an accident with one guy. His mother cursed this place, saying that from now on people would die in the pond, and there will be as many victims as the trees were cut down …
But meetings with another local ghostly inhabitant are deadly. They say that this is the last owner of the castle, Dominik Radziwill. Somewhere in the dungeons are hidden treasures of his family, which are guarded by a phantom. Those who can get along with the ghost will get them. Those who cannot please him die.
Golshany castle
He is well known for his novel "Black Castle Olshansky" by Vladimir Korotkevich and the film of the same name. The ghost of the Black Monk allegedly "lives" here. The castle once belonged to a wealthy tycoon. He had a daughter, Anna, in whom a certain young man without family and tribe fell in love. The rich man, having learned about forbidden love, ordered to seize the young man and immure him alive in the castle wall. Since that time, his spirit has not found peace, wandering through the basements and galleries of the estate.
Artsyom Ablazhey, Wikimedia Commons
The second local ghost lives in the building of the Golshany Franciscan monastery. He was nicknamed White Panna. According to legend, when the monastery was being built, one of its walls was constantly collapsing, and in order to appease supernatural forces, the builders decided to sacrifice the first woman who would bring dinner for her husband to the construction site. The young wife of one of the builders came first. They seized her and walled her up in the wall. The woman died, but her ghost forever settled within the walls of the monastery. And from time to time he is seen near the castle.
Krevo castle
At nightfall, mysterious shadows can be seen here - these are the spirits of the murderers of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Keistut, strangled by the order of his nephew Jagiello. You can also see a female figure, leisurely wandering along the walls of the castle, followed by a dog silhouette. The ghost is dangerous because from time to time it throws stones down from the walls.
Viktar Pałsciuk, commons.wikimedia.org
They say that this is a princess, famous for her pride. Somehow because of her, two young princes staged a duel. One killed the other, but the girl refused to become the winner's wife. Then her father was so angry that he ordered her daughter to be walled up in the wall together with her beloved dog. Now they are walking together at night …
Kossovsky palace
The ghost of the Black Lady lives here. It is assumed that during her lifetime her name was Yadviga Puslovskaya, she was married to Count Vandolin Puslovsky, who just built this palace.
Viktar Palstsiuk, commons.wikimedia.org
However, the heir to the estate was forced to sell it for debts. Apparently, the countess could not forgive this and returned from the other world. They say she scares with her appearances only those who, from her point of view, behave indecently. Sometimes she appears in the dungeon leading to the neighboring Ruzhany Palace.
Another local ghost belongs to a servant who was allegedly trying to seduce one of the wealthy friends of the local owners. Having received a refusal from the girl, he fed her to a lion, which the owners let out into the corridor at night so that he would guard their wealth. In any case, one morning the maid disappeared, and later appeared in the form of a ghost whenever her failed lover came to the palace.
At times, on quiet moonlit nights in the vicinity of the Kossovsky Palace, the clatter of hooves and horses neighing are heard. This is the famous wild hunt of King Stakh. One of the former owners of the castle, nobleman Roman Yanovsky, villainously killed the young king Stakh Gorsky and his retinue when they hunted the swamp lynx, and to hide the traces of the crime, he drove the horses with dead bodies into the bog. However, periodically the dead return for the descendants of Roman Yanovsky, whom they also killed by drowning in the Volotova breakthrough … This legend is described in another novel by Korotkevich, which is called “The Wild Hunt of King Stakh”. Although this is not a mystical story, but a detective story.
Margarita Troitsyna